Our need for strong and independent local journalism is more urgent now than ever.Our readers rely on our comprehensive news reporting. However, COVID-19 haseliminated most of the revenue that funds our work.Please support the city we love by joining our membership program,Friends of Willamette Week.

Fact: Matt’s BBQ Has the Best Brisket and Ribs in Portland

There’s really only one barbecue spot we’re excited about. That’s this cart, in the parking lot of H&B Jewelry and Loan between the two Popeyes on Martin Luther King Boulevard. (Christine Dong)

Remember the barbecue boom? Just a decade ago, your average American didn't know that Texas made the best, and that St. Louis and Memphis were sad imposters. Then, suddenly, everyone wanted slow-smoked and sauceless brisket served with white bread and pickles.

As the smoke has cleared, we've found there's really only one barbecue spot we're excited about. That's this cart, in the parking lot of H&B Jewelry and Loan between the two Popeyes on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The hand-lettered menu from pitmaster Matt Vicedomini has the same offerings you find elsewhere—brisket, dry-rubbed ribs, pulled pork, sausage—and yet the pulled pork is the only meat on the menu here that you can find done better elsewhere.

(Christine Dong)

The sliced brisket is the showstopper, with thick, smoky black bark and a texture that usually perfectly straddles the line between moist and sloppy. The ribs are taut, with a peppery crust that yields to the tooth in the most satisfying way. Then there's the sausage. The links are made in-house and, in a town with a lot of good sausage, the smoky heat of the jalapeño cheddar is peerless.